Formula E race calendar for Season 13: Austin & Brands Hatch as favourites for new circuits

Although Formula E is currently in its final season with the Gen3 Evo cars, planning for the debut season of the Gen4 cars is in full swing behind the scenes: the manufacturers are working flat out on their powertrains and those responsible are busy finding new race venues for the significantly more powerful and faster racing cars. In the UK and the USA, it seems to be heading towards two permanent race tracks for the coming season.

On paper, the Formula E circuit at the ExCeL exhibition centre in London has a lot of what Formula E needs for a race in a metropolis: a unique setting with an indoor-outdoor circuit that runs through an exhibition hall and optimal connections to the city's infrastructure. The disadvantage: as the track outside the hall uses access ramps and paths on the exhibition grounds, only a narrow and winding route can be realised.

It's no secret that this is already reaching its limits with the Gen3 Evo cars. This is why Formula E has only extended its contract with ExCeL, which expired in 2025, by one year. A Gen4 race is considered out of the question. The racing series is therefore looking for an alternative in the UK. After years of rumours about a relocation to the Silverstone circuit, around two hours' drive north-west of the British capital, Formula E now seems to be focusing on the Brands Hatch circuit instead. This is located just 30 minutes outside London in the south-east.

"Racing in London is complicated"

"You want to race in London, right? If you could, you'd race in London," describes Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds at Racingnews365. "The challenge with racing in London is as the cars get bigger and more powerful, the places you can race in London become more limited. There are locations in London that we could race, but they're very complicated, because you've got to get multiple permissions, logistics aren't easy. It's just complicated and expensive. So if there's a solution that isn't central London, wherever we go, my ambition would be we go there for a period of time."

"So, obviously its got two layouts there. I think neither layout is perfect in their current incarnation, so there'd be work to be done," Dodds said of Brands Hatch. "But I don't think it would be that complicated. I think, with any circuit, if there's a willingness from us and a willingness from the circuit owner to make it happen, that's a pretty straightforward exercise."

2nd USA race: Street circuit unlikely, Austin with favourites

For years, Formula E has been striving to expand its racing calendar with a second race in the USA. After a new circuit was added in 2026 with the Miami International Autodrome, according to information from e-Formula.news, a racetrack where Formula 1 currently races is also the favourite for the second race in the USA: The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The World Endurance Championship WEC also races here.

The Race reports that Formula E organisers have already held talks with Andy Soucek, Vice President of Motorsports at the race track in Austin, on the fringes of the Miami E-Prix in January. However, an adaptation of the track layout for Formula E is also being discussed here.

The circuit is "a good, viable option, but nothing's off the table at this point in time," said Oli McCrudden, vice president of host cities at Formula E. "There's always that sort of, 'Do we want a direct comparison type question' about whether we want to go into somewhere that has been an F1 market. Frankly, I think if you go into a circuit and you're putting on good racing the way that we do and the circuit's going to be slightly different, it doesn't matter so much."

Street circuit in Toronto discussed, too

A street circuit in Phoenix, on the other hand, no longer appears to be an option after the track layout around Papago Park on the outskirts of the city fell through with local politics. Road courses in the cities of Atlanta, Denver and Detroit are also said to be impossible to realise in the short time available - the official announcement is due to be made in June of this year. However, a race in Canada could be an alternative: Toronto is only around an hour north of the US border and hosted an IndyCar Series race until 2025.

"We have a number of live conversations, so in March-April time, we'll lock in a draft calendar submission to the FIA, so we don't have a huge amount of time," Dodds told The Race. "There's a whole load of live conversations, including Toronto. It could be Miami plus Toronto. It could be Miami plus another USA venue."

We will probably have clarity at the beginning of June. That's when the FIA World Motor Sport Council meets and is expected to decide on the first version of the Formula E racing calendar for the 2026/27 season. In the past, however, there have always been cases where venues were missing for individual race dates.